


After all these years? Always.

by UchihaBloodline



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon, Canon Compliant, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-08-27 05:30:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8389105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UchihaBloodline/pseuds/UchihaBloodline
Summary: “You should have said something, you should have told him” she says nothing else and goes back to toying with the hem of her shirt, Sasuke’s blood runs cold in his body. He knows exactly what she’s talking about but is afraid to ask.“You could have been happy” she adds then squeezes his hand, bringing warmth back to his seemingly freezing body. She gives him a small smile and looks at him again just as she gets on her feet to join the others, then says something that would change his life forever “Maybe you can still be happy. I’ve noticed the way he looks at you too”Canon drable.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Heeey! Just a small drable! Please give some love.

 

“It’s not fair you know” she says, he turns his gaze from Naruto, who’s busy unwrapping a gift his wife had just given him.

“What isn’t fair?” He asks, her gaze is stern and hard, perhaps hurt and nostalgic as well. He looks back at Naruto and his heart aches when the blond smiles at him, wiggling the present in his hand. Naruto had looked ecstatic when Sasuke had shown up to his 36th birthday.

“You should have said something, you should have told him” she says nothing else and goes back to toying with the hem of her shirt, Sasuke’s blood runs cold in his body. He knows exactly what she’s talking about but is afraid to ask.

“Sarada-”

“It’s not fair for you, it’s not fair for mom, it’s not fair for him” she adds bitterly, hands gesturing at the people she’s mentioning. He looks at her in mild shock, was he always that obvious? He thought he’d been careful not to let it show.

He’d mastered it at this point, or so he had thought.

“I always asked myself why you never looked at mom the way Shikamaru-san looked at Temari-san” she explained, almost answering his question “then I realized it was because of him” Sasuke’s head examines their surroundings to make sure no one else can hear them, but everyone else is too busy with the Hokage’s birthday.

He feels frozen, he feels like screaming and running away. He feels helpless, heartbroken. As if his daughter being able to recognize the nature of his feelings was the last straw for him.

“You could have been happy” she adds then squeezes his hand, bringing warmth back to his seemingly freezing body. She gives him a small smile and looks at him again just as she gets on her feet to join the others, then says something that would change his life forever “Maybe you can still be happy. I’ve noticed the way he looks at you too”

At some point during the night he’d finally gotten over his shock and gotten himself a bottle of sake, trying his very best to ignore everything that had happened. Sarada was still glancing at him curiously from time to time, almost in an encouraging “go for it” manner.

He wished he could.

But obviously the stars and the universe wouldn’t align for him. Because Naruto was still a married man with two children, it didn’t matter how Sasuke felt.

So he took another sip of his sake, wincing at the bitter taste that invaded his senses, compensating with a numbing, warm feeling that traveled through his throat to his chest. He missed the pair of blue eyes that examined him worryingly as he chugged half of the bottle in one go.

He was supposed to be a stoic man, he was supposed to keep his act up for the rest of the night then leave and let out all his frustrations in a secluded place where no one could hear. But his heart had been feeling particularly small that night, so it was no surprise that he felt suffocated and needed to leave before he embarrassed himself further.

He didn’t know why Sarada figuring it out had affected him so deeply. Sakura already had, two years ago. She’d cried and hugged him, then told him he better do something about it.

He never ended up listening to her, as expected.

Maybe it was the fact that his daughter was so young yet could see clearly through his facade that angered him.

Feeling dizzy enough, he did his best to get on his feet without tumbling over. With shaky knees he tried to get out of the restaurant unnoticed. He almost made it, but then a hand clasped his bicep at the door.

“What are you doing? He’ll notice within two seconds that you’re gone” he turned his face towards the woman he publicly called his wife. With his mind in this state, he could appreciate how truly beautiful this woman was.

He wished he could have loved her, it would have been easier. It would have been fair.

One look at his eyes was enough for her to understand, she glanced at Naruto, who had an arm around Gaara’s shoulders and was laughing, then back at him with a heart wrenching sadness. No more words were needed.

“Go. I’ll cover for you” he nodded gratefully and slipped out the door, instantly feeling calmer when the autumn breeze hit his face and the sound of music and chatter died down as he got further away from the restaurant.

Sarada was, after all, a hopeful child with a purer outlook on life. Of course she thought Sasuke had a chance, she wanted to believe he did. However, Sasuke knew better.

He felt tempted to leave the village, but he knew Naruto would find out he did and question it, since he hadn’t given him any missions, so he opted for one of the training grounds.

The one furthest from the village he could find.

He leaned into a tree and sat down, cursing at himself for still being so damn weak after all these years.

He would always be weak when it came to Naruto.

He remembered bitterly the day he’d received the invitation to the Uzumaki-Hyuuga wedding, he’d been away on a mission and his hawk had given him the white and silver envelope.

He’d known instantly what it was.

He’d burned it, he’d watched it waste away before his eyes. Needless to say, he wasn’t present at the wedding.

He closed his eyes for what seemed like hours, trying to get his body to stop shaking. They flared open when he felt a chakra presence, then widened when he realized whom said chakra belonged to.

He didn’t dare to say a word as the figure approached him and sat down next to him. Their thighs were touching, the contact burned through Sasuke’s skin.

“You worried me” Naruto said, staring ahead. Sasuke snorted.

“I was bored, so I left” blue eyes glared at him, finally meeting his, he returned the action. Naruto’s eyes suddenly softened and he looked away.

“I can count on my fake hand the amount of times you’ve looked me in the eyes in the fast fifteen years” He said sternly, Sasuke’s eyes widened further. They were both quiet for a while. After what seemed like hours, Naruto spoke.

“Why? Why did I stop meaning as much to you as you still mean to me?” He asked angrily. He might as well have dropped a bucket of ice on Sasuke.

Is that what Naruto truly thought? That he didn’t mean anything to him? That Sasuke had found someone better? That he’d been replaced? Sasuke had never felt so angry.

He had always been an idiot.

Naruto was giving him that look, that sad, heartbroken look that always managed to lure Sasuke in. That look that made him avoid making eye contact.

“Don’t make such accusations when you know nothing” he spat, something seemed to snap inside Naruto, because he angled his body so he was straddling Sasuke and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, slamming his head against the tree trunk.

“Then tell me! Enlighten me!” He yelled desperately, voice an octave higher. He slammed Sasuke’s head again, when he got no answer, he cursed and laid his forehead on Sasuke’s, making the latter tense.

“Please tell me I’m still your one and only. Tell me I’m not divorcing my wife in vain” he whispered, hands shaking as they grasped Sasuke’s clothes. The air left Sasuke’s lungs as he registered Naruto’s words.

It couldn’t be.

“You.. you’re divorcing your-” his words were interrupted by Naruto’s lips pressing against his cheek tenderly, his throat closed up on him.

“Why” he breathed out after a while, feeling dizzier than before.

“I can’t pretend anymore” Naruto supplied and his eyes were so blue under the moonlight that Sasuke wanted to get lost in them. He’s trying desperately to believe Naruto’s words, he’s trying to convince himself this isn’t another one of his cruel dreams. He knows he has to do something now or the moment will be gone forever but he can’t bring himself to do anything but nod his head ever so slightly.

It seemed enough for Naruto though, because ever so slowly, he moved his mouth from Sasuke’s cheek to his forehead and pressed a kiss there, followed by a soft kiss on Sasuke’s lids.

His lips were tender and loving on the creamy skin, Sasuke didn’t remember when he tangled his hand in Naruto’s hair. The blond pressed his lips to the corner of Sasuke’s mouth, then moved an inch, finally sealing their lips together.

Sasuke’s entire life from the moment he’d first seen Naruto flashed before his closed eyes as he kisses back desperately, trying to get Naruto as close to him as possible. He’s scared Naruto will fade away from his fingertips.

They’re both angry, furious that they’d denied themselves all of this for so long yet they’re happy, happier than they’ve ever been.

Naruto still tasted the same as he had all those years back in the academy, but this time Sasuke didn’t, couldn’t pull away. Naruto felt overwhelmed with Sasuke’s taste, his smell, the way Sasuke felt beneath his fingertips. He thought couldn’t feel anything on his fake arm, but he was almost sure he could feel it tingling along with the rest of his body.

There was still so much to talk about, so much to figure out, but at the moment nothing but their lips, roaming hands and sounds mattered. The world had simply ceased to exist.

Naruto pulled back and before Sasuke could whine, he realized Naruto’s thumbs were drying the tears on his cheeks, their foreheads pressed together.

“I love you” Naruto said, voice broken and sincere. Sasuke felt twenty years younger.

“After all these years?” He taunted, Naruto smiled and pecked his nose.

“Always”


End file.
